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H]c ^Muattonal f otoers of m jireseut g!atianal f mtbles. 



SERMON 

BY THE REV. AVM. RUDDER, D. D. 



%^t €'immtiml fototrs of mx jastnt ptiaral f rartlej. 



SERMON 



PREACHED IN 



ft. f awrs ailttttdt, ^llrang, 

ON 

V 

SUNDAY EVENING, JAN. 13, 1861. 



BY THE REV. WM. RUDDER, D. D. 



ALBANY: 

MUNSELL & ROWLAND, 78 STATE STREET. 
1861. 



4. 






i 



;j CORRESPONDENCE. 

^ Albany, Jan. 18, 1861. 
\v> To the Rev. AVilliam Rudder, D. D. : 

Dear Sir— The undersigned having heard your Sermon delivered in 

St. Paul's Church, on Sunday evening, the 13th inst., on "The 
Educational Powers of our present National Troubles," and approv- 
ing of the sentiments it contains, respectfully solicit of you a copy 
for publication. 

Yours respectfully, 

^ Majoe .J. T. Spbagtje, Babent P. Staats, 

U. S. Army, Edwin AV. Corning, 

E. EvERTSEN, Wm. N. Fassett, 

James Goold, S. W. Whitney, 

John Sill, * Mason F. Cogswell, 

Maurice E. Viele, J. H. Van Antwerp, 

J. Owen Moore, John Taylor, 

GrRATZ Van Rensselaer, E. E. Kendrick, 

W. C. Porter, T. W.-P. Kendrick, 

T. Squires, Wm. Ward, 

W. Lacy, Wm. P:.Feltman, 

RoBT. G. Cruttenden, E. H. Bender, 

Ira Porter, S. Moffat, 

C. W. Bender, M. W. Bender. 



Albany, Jan. 24, 1861. 
To Major J. T. Spbague, Babent P. Staats, M. D., Mason F. Cogs- 
well, M. D., Messrs. John Sill, Wm. N. Fassett, Maubice E. 
Viele, John Taylor, J. H. Van Antwerp, and others : 
Gentlemen— Your letter of the 18th inst., requesting, for publica- 
tion, a copy of my late Sermon on the National Troubles, has been 
received. The Sermon will, I fear, be found to carry sufficient 
evidence in itself, that it was written without the remotest idea of its 
being presented, in a printed form, to the Public. Still, I am pro- 
foundly convinced of the truth, and great importance, of the doctrines 
therein enunciated ; and since you think the publication of them, at 
this time, may possibly be of benefit, I willingly commit the manu- 
script to your hands. If a single person may be aroused thereby to 
a more thorough appreciation of his high privileges, and solemn re- 
sponsibilities, as a Citizen of this great Republic, neither my work in 
writing, nor yours in publishing, will have been in vain. 

Yours respectfully, 

WM. RUDDER. 



SEEMON. 



"When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the tcorld 
will learn righteousness.''' — Isai., xxvi, 9. 

The fact here asserted is one of fitness or possi- 
bility, not of absolute or unvarying certainty. It 
is not meant that when God's judgments are in 
the earth, the inhabitants of the world do, or always 
will, learn righteousness; but simply that they 
may do so, and further that they ought to do so. 

Two important Truths, however, underlie the 
mere primary teaching of this text, which give 
force to it, and indeed are its constituent elements. 
The first of these is, that God does not punish 
simply for the sake of punishing, but in order 
that the individual or the nation, so visited, may 
thereby be brought to clearer perceptions of Truth, 
and higher attainments in righteousness ; and the 
second is, that it is the part both of wisdom and 
duty, when men or nations are punished, that 
they enquire, what are the meaning and purpose 



8 

is, who seem at least to prefer Politics to the 
Gospel, and who really reduce the Pulpit into 
the mere Engine of a Party. The Office of 
the Preacher, as a moral instructor, is unques- 
tionably to explain and enforce the great Prin- 
ciples of the Divine Law; and certainly if the 
Preacher himself l)e fully imbued with a sense 
of the grandeur, and comprehensiveness, and 
importance — the height, and depth, and length, 
and breadth — of these princijDles ; and further of 
the deep and pressing necessity, on the part of 
mankind, for their thorough illustration, and 
constant enforcement; he will have but little 
time, as he will feel but little inclination, to go 
beyond this proper business of his office for the 
discussion of any other subjects whatsoever. But 
while I admit all this, and maintain all this, I am 
unwilling to allow the doctrine to be publicly, 
constantly, and dogmatically asserted, — and to 
remain unquestioned, as if it were axiomatic and 
unquestionable, — that when any People, in their 
public lives and acts, may be violating, either 
blindly or willfully, those very Principles of Truth 
and Justice which the Pulpit is divinely esta- 
blished to proclaim and defend, that then the 
Minister of Christ has no riciht to speak ; that 



9 

his duty and responsibility ceases in the matter; 
because forsooth the People are not now acting 
and sinning as individuals, but in their corporate, 
or political, or national capacity. I cannot admit 
this doctrine. And I cannot admit it for several 
reasons ; — because I believe that the general pre- 
valence of this idea in any community would be 
attended, as I fear it has been already in our own, 
with the most disastrous and wide-spread political 
demoralization; because it would be tantamount 
to an admission that men may do in masses what 
they cannot do as individuals, — that God's Law 
touches each man separately and individually, but 
that a million of men, acting in any political 
capacity, may break God's Sceptre and cast it 
contemptuously from their midst ; because it is, in 
fact, to make God's Empire, by so much, less 
than universal; because it is really in direct 
antagonism with, and tends, of necessity, to 
obscure before the popular mind, the fundamental 
truth of the Divine Origin of the State ; and, 
finally, because it pours contempt upon the whole 
history and teaching of God's own Word, and 
faults, besides, the past practice of the Christian 
Pulpit in every age and country — in every great 
crisis and advancement of the human race. I 
2 



10 

cannot admit this Doctrine. I solemnly protest 
against it. 

But, as I have said, it is not necessary for me 
to offer these remarks — thus, as it were, to make 
guard and apology beforehand — on account of any 
words which it is my intention shall fall from my 
lips to-night. I make them now because I shall 
have to consider the moral effect of the opinion or 
feeUng referred to, in a subsequent part of the pre- 
sent Discourse. It is certain however that if ever 
there be a time when the Pulpit may speak, or 
ought to speak, in reference to political matters, 
that time is upon us now. And it is perhaps a 
Sign of Hope for the Future, that very many are 
to-day earnestly beseeching the Pulpit to do what, 
but a short time since, they were most strenuous, 
and even violent, in asserting that the Pulpit had 
no right to do. But my purpose on the present 
occasion is, as I have said, to enquire simply, and 
in the spirit of the text, concerning what I have 
called — The Educational Poivers of our present 
National Troubles; to enquire, in other words, 
whether these Troubles be not calculated to 
remind us of certain Truths which, as a Nation, 
we may have forgotten; and to enforce upon us 
certain Duties which, as a Nation, we may have 



11 

neglected. The cloud indeed rests darkly and 
heavily over the land; but it may be after all, 
that if the present impending calamities shall only 
lead us to dispose our hearts aright towards God, 
there may even yet ])e found for us, both as indi- 
viduals and as a People, a "bright Hght within 
the cloud." 

Let us however pause for a single moment be- 
fore going further, and observe the condition of 
things around us. What a transition has there 
been from the state of aftairs which existed but 
ten weeks ago! How rapidly have we traveled 
during the last two months that are gone! 
Verily, the shadow upon the dial has sprung 
forward through many degrees in a single move- 
ment; and what, in former generations, Avould 
have filled whole eras and volumes of History, 
we have, with the tremendous condensing power 
of our age, compressed into the few pages which 
would then have been but the chronicle of days. 
Go back with me a few steps into the past, and 
compare the "then" and the "now." But two 
months ago, and the whole country, throughout 
its entire extent, was flushed with health and 
strength ; and the people of these United States, 
not only stood in the midst of a wondrous present 



12 



prosperity, but lifted up their eyes, with confident 
gaze, along the sunny slopes of an even more 
wondrous prosperity to come. On every side 
were the aboiuiding elements of Life, and Wealth, 
and Power. Every department of business was 
filled with the hum and stir of energetic and 
productive industry. Millions of strong arms 
were busy coining a nation's wealth, amid health- 
ful and happy labor. And then, when a green 
and fruitful Summer had been changed by the 
wondrous alchemy of Nature, into rich and 
golden Autumn, the earth poured forth its trea- 
sures in such marvellous abundance as probably, 
since time began, it never had poured them forth 
before. Never, in one word, did a Nation seem 
more eminently blessed. Health, and Wealth, 
and Prosperity were at home ; Power, and Honor, 
and fair Reputation were abroad. And nmo! 
Who does not feel and know that to-day we are 
hanging on the brink of a thousand perils, dark 
and unfathomable indeed? Who does not see 
that the hearts of wise men, and brave men, 
are failing them for fear ? Look around you once 
again. The wheels of Trade, just now so busily 
revolving, have halted and are still. The tides 
of business have ceased their Pactolian flow. The 



13 

advance of the Nation is suddenly checked in 
the very midst of its prosperous career. A 
crumbhng rottenness seems to have entered into 
its very bones. Sunshine has given place to 
storm ; and Hope has well-nigh yielded to despair. 
What, alas, has l^ecome of the great, and strong, 
and proud Republic of yesterday, — the very 
mention of which justly caused every American 
heart to thrill with an honest and an honorable 
pride ? — is it gone ? Is the Government founded 
by the Wisdom, cemented with the Blood, hal- 
lowed by the Prayers of a great and noble 
Ancestry, to be hurled into ruins ? or is it, even 
in this hour, at an end? Are civil war, and 
anarchy, and ruin — political, commercial, social 
ruin — to be our inevitable lot? What has 
brought us to this condition? What are the 
causes of decay and death that have been so 
secretly, but so terribly, at work? — These are 
serious Questions ; and it behooves us, as wise men, 
and good men, to endeavor to answer them. 

Now, my Brethren, it is in view of this melan- 
choly and disastrous state of affairs, and in the 
presence of such questions as these, — questions 
which are pressing themselves painfully upon the 
saddened minds and hearts of all honest and 



14 

patriotic men — that we ask your attention to 
the important enquiry which we have ventured 
to proj)Ose. We do not seek to determine, you 
will ol3serve, what are the hnmediate causes of 
present events. Each man will undoubtedly 
determine these diiferently, according to his own 
position, and his peculiar angle of vision. And 
such an inquiry might possibly lead us into just 
that style of Political discussion which we do 
not think suitable for the Pulpit. But we wish 
to go down into the great underlying and dis- 
tinctive moral characteristics of our life hitherto 
as a People — of our Political life ; and see if 
there be not among these, causes — working- 
through whatever intermediate links of cause 
and effect — entirely calculated and sufficient to 
produce just these disastrous results which all 
men are now willing to deplore. It is only 
indeed through such inquiry and consideration, 
drawing their educational powers out of them, 
that our present Troubles can at all profit us, 
and enable us to " learn righteousness." Crimi- 
nation and Recrimination bring neither Wisdom 
nor Safety. On the contrary, they strike at 
Charity which is the foundation of both. Let us 
rather, each and all, examine ourselves. Let us 



15 

consider our motives and conduct in the past. 
Perhaps it may be discovered that the real secret 
and root of the National Troubles are to be found 
in these. 

Looking then at the disastrous events of the 
last few weeks, we ask, — To the recognition of 
what Truths does the honest consideration of 
them necessarily force us ? What effect do they 
produce upon the conscientious observer ? — It is 
by determining these points that we shall dis- 
cover what we beheve to be their Educational 
Powers. By understanding what they are calcu- 
lated to teach, we may best learn what they were 
designed to teach. 

And first of all, as preparatory to all else, it is 
worthy of notice — that tlwy have made us think. 

Probably of all people the Americans are just 
those least open to the charge of dullness or 
sluggishness of intellect. It would seem that 
the very conditions of the national life and 
development have almost necessitated a peculiar 
mental activity which distinguishes them among 
the nations of the earth. We do not say, you 
will observe, that they are the most thoughtful 
people — a people, that is, given peculiarly to 
calm, and patient, and serious thought in regard 



16 



to any matter ; — the lack of this may even 
perhaps be numbered among our national defects ; 
but certainly they are distinguished by an activity 
of mind which pauses not on the threshold of 
any subject, but penetrates restlessly and inquisi- 
tively into every department of human inquiry. 
And yet, strange to say, in that very department 
in which above all others, as one would suppose, 
owing to the peculiar character of the Govern- 
ment under which they live, their minds would 
be especially occupied, the American people, as 
a general thing, do not think — think, that is, 
carefully and conscientiously, by, and for, them- 
selves. Their minds are totally absorbed in other 
directions — mostly perhaps in the occupations of 
business, and the pursuit of wealth ; and they 
leave their line of conduct as Citizens, which in 
them at least ought to be matter of solemn and 
religious Duty, to be determined for them, either 
by chance, or by the Newspaper which they 
happen to read, or by the dicta of the Party to 
which they belong, or by the political Demagogue 
who uses them for his own good ends. Com- 
pletely possessed by the greed of gam, they are 
blinded to the fact, that the safety of property 
itself is directly dependent upon the wise and 



17 



righteous regulation of the state ; and as com- 
pletely eaten up with the love of self, they allow 
the very principles of all high and generous 
Patriotism to be weakened, if not utterly de- 
stroyed, in their breasts. 

Now one of the first effects and lessons of the 
troubles which have been visited upon us, — 
unless indeed God has been, or is, speaking to 
us, through His providence, in vain, — is, that, 
as we have said, they have made this People 
think, and have thereby, it is to be hoped, made 
them perceive the imperative necessity that they 
should go on thinking. The great masses of the 
Nation have, we believe, done more honest, and 
serious, and conscientious political thinking within 
the last sixty days than in as many years before. 
And this is the first step always toward the 
discovery of Truth, and consequently towards 
fundamental, and therefore abiding, agreement. 
We have the Divine authority in regard to Israel 
of old, that the secret cause of their sin and ruin 
was, that they did not consider ; — " My people 
doth not consider." In our case also, considera- 
tion — honest, serious thought — is the first step 
necessary to the perception of responsibility and 
duty. And therefore in so far as we have been, 
3 



18 

or shall yet be, made to think; hi so far as we 
have thus been brought to see the disastrous 
consequences of our past neglect in this matter ; 
in so far as we have been led to the perception of 
our own errors, and the recognition of our duties 
as Christian citizens; so far will the present 
national sorrows and dangers not have come upon 
us in vain. 

I am fully persuaded that this is one of the 
effects which the present judgments of God are 
intended to produce. The command and the 
exhortation is now, as always, " Hear ye the 
voice of the Rod, and who hath appointed it." 
And in order to this, the mental ear must listen ; 
we must consider ; we must think : for God is 
speaking, and unless we do so. He will speak to 
us in vain. 

But, further, the present troubles are calculated 
to prove, and illustrate, the fact, that it holds 
true as well of nations as of individuals, — that 
" man doth not live hy hread only'' 

We have already called your attention to the 
remarkable abundance and prosperity, both in 
possession and in prospect, which, but a short 
time ago, seemed to be so liberally vouchsafed 
to every section of the land. The earth groaned 



19 

beneath the burden of its fruits. Ahnost count- 
less riches seemed ready to pour themselves into 
the coffers of the people. And the Nation ap- 
peared to have attained to a stability, and a 
position of wealth, and dignity, and power, which 
commanded and received the respect and admira- 
tion of the world. And yet, as we have said, it 
has, with a suddenness that is more than start- 
ling, become a question with thoughtful men 
whether the Nation and Government of "then" 
is in existence any longer. The apparent cer- 
tainty of Wealth has yielded to the dark possi- 
bilities of Want; the song of Peace is hushed 
in the fearful expectancy of War; the sunshine 
has faded into night, and scarcely one star of 
Hope can now be detected ghmmering through 
the gloom. It is evident to all men that, what- 
ever may be the ultimate result, the approach- 
ing condition of the country may at least be one 
of wide-spread ruin. Bread alone, it is clear. 
Material Prosperity, has not sufficed for the na- 
tional life. There are, it appears, certain moral 
Laws at work determining the elevation or de- 
pression of nations, their permanence or their over- 
throw, entirely independent of, and superior to, 
those whose results may be measured on the scale 



20 

of simple Profit and Loss. This then is another 
of the Truths that this transition, so sudden and 
so startHng, is eminently calculated to teach. 

And certamly, my Brethren, no people stand 
more in need of having this Truth impressed 
upon them, than do our own. Blessed with a 
Prosperity and Power, almost unsurpassed in 
its actual extent, and certainly unparalleled in 
the rajDidity with which it has been reached, 
we have come to regard the possession of ma- 
terial wealth as the first and only thing need- 
ful for the well-being of a nation, and to look 
upon ourselves moreover as the sole authors 
of our own good fortunes. Accordingly, among 
the defects or vices of the national character, 
none are more marked than an inordinate ar- 
rogance, and an almost mfidel reliance upon 
ourselves. " My power," both as a Nation and 
as individuals, we say, "my power, and the 
might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth." 
The idea of God as the necessary sustainer and 
preserver of Nations, has been well-nigh blotted 
from our minds; and we have become, as a 
consequence, both regardless of His Will, and 
practically indifferent to His favor. 

It will be scarcely necessary for us to show, at 



21 

any length, how this general temper works itself 
out into the details of the national character and 
life. He must have been a careless observer 
indeed, who has failed to notice it in its number- 
less manifestations. Feeling our Might, we have 
become regardless of Right. Knowing ourselves 
Laicmalcers, we have become impatient of Laic. 
Priding ourselves upon our Privileges, we have 
become forgetful of the existence of our Duties. 
And so, as we have said, we have grown up into a 
temper arrogant, and intractable, and overbearing, 
which distinguishes us alike in our public and 
our private acts, and both at home and abroad. 
Go wherever jou will over the wide world's 
surface, and there probably you will find the 
American; but wherever you find him, there, 
as a general thing, you will discover that he 
manifests a character, which is certainly regarded 
as peculiarly belonging to his people, marked by 
the most boastful self-assertion, and by an utter 
defiance of all Authority. He is an American — 
he feels and says ; the power of a great Govern- 
ment is behind him; he is that Government and 
that Pmoer ; and therefore he is free to trample 
under foot all barriers, of whatever sort, which 
may oppose themselves to his Will, — free, in one 



22 

word, to do, everywhere and always, just as he 
pleases. 

Now God, as it seems to us, is endeavoring, 
through the present troubles, to press home upon 
our minds and hearts this Truth which has been 
so generally forgotten, — that material resources 
alone can afford no surety of the permanence 
of a nation's strength and prosperity, but that 
only " blessed is that nation whose God is the 
Lord;" and, further, is endeavoring to rebuke and 
correct that spirit of Lawlessness and irreverence 
which, basing itself upon such grounds, has be- 
come so fearfully prevalent in the land. Cer- 
tainly, never was this truth more clearly demon- 
strated in the experience of any people. It has 
even reached to this — whether that great Power 
which, almost yesterday, we boasted of as these 
" United States,'' exists any longer. Surely then 
it behooves us to learn God's lesson, and lay it to 
our hearts. Let us, in sincere penitence for our 
sins, confess them at His feet ; and let us beseech 
Him, in mercy, even now, to deliver us from 
shame. 

But there is a third Lesson which the present 
national troubles are calculated to teach — and 
that is one touching what we may call, The moral 



23 

obligations jpeculiarly inherent in American Citizen^ 
ship. 

There are three Divine Institutions estabhshed 
in the world — the Family, the Church, and the 
State. We do not mean, of course, to say that 
the State, in the sense of the mere Form of 
Government in which the essential principle of 
the State clothes itself is of divine origin and 
appointment; but that the essential principle of 
Authority itself, which underlies, and gives its 
sanction to, every Form of Government, comes 
forth from God, and is endowed with divine pre- 
rogatives. " There is no jjoiver hut of God ; the 
powers that he are ordained of God''' " Riders are 
God's ministers." 

But now, if this be so, then it follows, that 
just in proportion as any People are admitted to a 
larger share, not only in moulding and determin- 
ing the Form of Government in the State, but 
also in giving character to its acts, so does there 
rest upon them, in the exercise of this privilege, 
a greater moral responsibility. It surely must 
involve a high degree of guilt, when such a 
People, either through thoughtlessness or indiffer- 
ence, allow a Divine Institution, the active mani- 
festation and exercise of whose Authority they 



24 



are permitted to determine, to become perverted 
from those high ends for which it was evidently 
designed, and made both an instrument and an 
example of violence and wrong. In so doing, 
they clearly dishonor God ; for they make what 
He has appointed and sanctioned to be practically 
an unhol}' thing. We maintain therefore this 
proposition — that the Tyrant who perverts the 
authority divinely intrusted to him for good, to 
purposes of cruelty and injustice, is certainly no 
more a criminal, than the American Citizen, who, 
either through neglect to perform conscientiously 
his duty as such, or through exercising his pri- 
vileges unfaithfully, helps, directly or indirectly, 
to the su2:)port of political corruption and crime. 
There is a moral responsibility in this matter ; 
and we cannot neglect it with impunity. 

And yet it is to be feared that no small portion 
of our People, and that too among those who 
ought to be the strength and reliance of the 
Nation, have been habitually forgetful of this 
fact, and often perhaps knowingl}^ indifferent to 
it. With some, as we have said, an insatiable 
love of money has made them unwilling to devote 
the necessary time and thought to the welfare of 
their country, or else has so demented them that 



25 

they are really unable to judge what is wisest and 
best; while with others, the hope of an indirect 
personal advantage, either tending in the same 
direction, or contributing to the attainment of 
pohtical influence or place, has made them willing 
to subscribe to measures, and even to fawn upon 
men, both of which, the commonest instincts of 
manhood, to say nothing of a high and generous 
Patriotism, should have caused them to spurn from 
them in utter indignation and contempt. And 
what is the result ? Is it not true that the whole 
government of the country has become, too gene- 
rally, corrupt ? Is it not true that our great centres 
of government are notoriously centres of political 
crime? Is it not true that the best and wisest 
are too generally thrust out from all share in the 
councils of the State ? Is it not true that Justice 
and Right are bought and sold in our land ? Is it 
not true that the Legislation for the country is 
done outside of its Legislative Halls ? Is it not 
true that Politics, the sacred Science of govern- 
ment, has become the mere Gambler's Science for 
purposes of personal advancement or gain ? Is it 
not true, in this very hour, that the whole coun- 
try, North, and South, and East, and West, is 

4 



26 

being killed — is having its very life sucked 
out of it — by the self-seeking and unscrupulous 
Demagogues who, like vampires, have fastened 
upon it, and who have been permitted, by our 
own negligence or culpable connivance with crime, 
to rise into places of trust and power? Are not 
these things notorioush* true ? Who will have 
hardihood enough to deny them? And yet we 
wonder at the advent of Political disaster ! Is 
it not rather matter of infinite wonder, that, there 
being a God of Truth and Justice in Heaven, 
disaster has not come upon us before ! 

And in what is the prolific source of all these 
evils to be found other than, as we have said, in 
the criminal failure, so common on the part of the 
Citizens of the Repubhc, to recognize their re- 
sponsibilities, and to fulfil their duties, as such, 
fearlessly and conscientiously as in the sight of 
God ? There can be no question that we are 
greatly guilty in this matter ; and God, — we 
trust only for purposes of warning, — is showing 
to us, in the prospect of national ruin and hu- 
miliation, the inevitable consequences of our sins. 
Let us not then close our ears to this Truth. Let 
us not pass it by as a mere general thing in 



27 

which we are not individually and particularly 
concerned. The purification of the State must 
begin in the purification of the consciences of the 
individuals composing the State. Here, therefore, 
must begin the cure of our evils. It is true now, 
as it has been, and will be always, that it is only 
" if Christ shall make us free, that we shall be 
free indeed." 

But a fourth lesson may be derived from the 
present troubles, viz ; — the peril of separating in 
the popular mind, Religion and Politics. 

In the opening of this discourse, I insisted, as 
you will remember, upon the Right., and, under 
certain circumstances, the Duty of the Pulpit to 
enforce the great principles of the divine Law, as 
in every department of man's life and activity, so 
in that of his political conduct. And I did so on 
the general ground, that there is, and can be, no 
matter in which a human being is called upon to 
decide and act as a moral agent, where the author- 
ity of that Law is not perfect and supreme. No 
man, or body of men, has a right to say to that 
Law — " So far, and no farther." To do so, is by 
so much to endeavor to dethrone God. And I deem 
it important, and indeed vital to the very exist- 
ence of Society, that this Right, on tliese grounds, 



28 

he maintained (however seldom it may be found 
judicious to exercise it), because I believe, that 
just so soon as the minds of any People become 
once leavened with this idea — that the Law of 
God has no apphcation or authority within the 
sphere of their political action ; just so soon will 
that People hasten to an utter demoralization, and 
consequently to anarchy and ruin. It is, in fact, 
the doctrine of the French Revolution ; and it 
only bore then its legitimate fruit, which it will 
always bear. 

I believe that in this is to be found one, at least, 
of the causes of the disaster that now threatens 
the Nation as with a deluge of fire. It may 
undoubtedly be true, as is so often asserted, that 
what is called Political Preaching has contributed 
toward bringing the country to its present condi- 
tion. But it is only true for the reason, that 
there may be a wrong sort of Political Preaching ; 
a preaching, that is, which forgets the fact, that, 
in the great system of Doctrine, one Truth must 
balance and limit another, — and further, that it 
is the distinctive Law of the diffusion of Truth, 
that it spreads itself abroad as by the gradual and 
silent influence of the leaven, and not by agencies 
of violence and wrong ; preaching moreover, which, 



29 

however honest in intention, may yet be injudi- 
cious in manner, and which, instead of always 
" speaking the truth in Love," tends only to 
arouse the evil and vindictive passions of the 
heart. And yet it may still be a question, 
whether, after all, it may not be Hkewise true, 
and true perhaps even in a higher degree, that 
the present troubles have also been, in part, 
occasioned by the entire absence from our Pulpits 
of the right sort of Political Preaching. It cer- 
tainly can not be questioned by any careful 
observer, that the seeming acquiescence of the 
clergy in the doctrine, so continually and boldly 
asserted vntliout dejinition and tvithout Umitatiwi, 
that the Pulpit, in the common phrase, has " no 
right to meddle with Politics," has tended to 
create, and has created, the belief in the popular 
mind, — however illogical may be the deduc- 
tion, — that the great principles of right and 
wrong, of truth and falsehood, are in no way bind- 
ing upon men in their political conduct. Doubt- 
less such an inference as this is very far indeed 
from being intended by those who have been 
most earnest in asserting this dogma. But then 
it must be remembered, — and here is the evil 



30 



and the danger, — that the great masses of So- 
ciety are never, at best, very skilful in drawing 
distinctions ; and that there are besides, in every 
community, a vast multitude who are only too 
eager to seize upon such a doctrine, so approved, 
as an opiate for conscience, and an argument and 
defence for them in the pursuit of their evil 
designs. Translate this doctrine into the Formu- 
lae of popular practice, and you have — " The 
Law of God does not apply to Political questions," 
'' In my Political acts, I am under no obligation 
to consider that Law ; " and then, by a further 
consequence, " Everything is fair in Politics," 
and " There is no such thing as Political crime — 
crime, that is, that makes me amenable to God." 
And it is upon these ideas, not only acted upon 
by the immense herd of unprincipled Politicians, 
but praxitically endm'sed and accepted by the great 
majority of the people, that that fearful mass 
of corruption has grown up which now seems 
about to result in the complete overthrow of the 
Republic. 

We do not hesitate to say then that the troubles 
and perils that to-day encompass us, are designed 
to present to us a timely warning in this matter. 



31 

They are the fruit of the corruption which has 
arisen from the causes we have mentioned. God 
has been thrust out from the government of the 
Nation. His Law has been treated with neglect, 
if not with contempt. The fact that " the Glory 
of God is the ultimate purpose of the State," has 
been entirely disregarded. And it is a retribu- 
tive Justice that, at length, threatens to grind us 
to powder. 

And now, my Brethren, having shown you the 
lessons which, as it seems to us, the present 
troubles are calculated to teach, we think that 
we have also shown you what they are designed 
to teach ; and so have brought out what we have 
called their Educational Poivers. It is certain 
that the country never could have gotten into its 
present condition, had not these causes of evil 
which we have considered been, for a long time, 
and busily at work. No one cause, we may be 
sure, has brought about the threatened dissolu- 
tion of this great Confederacy. No more pressing 
necessity than has always existed, exists now for 
the dissolution of this Union. And, what is 
more, no such necessity would have been felt 
to exist by the wise and good in any section of 
the land, had they been left to themselves, and 



32 

permitted to follow out their own honest con- 
victions. The fire that is consuming the fair 
Edifice founded by the wisdom and the unselfish 
Patriotism of the Fathers, has been kindled by 
political Demagogues for their own base purposes ; 
and it has found, alas, an only too ready material 
in the political demoralization which has eaten 
out the Loyalty of the Nation. The causes 
of ruin lie far back of any immediate question. 
Immediate questions may be used as occasions or 
pretexts ; but it holds true now, as always, that 
the decay of Nations begins in the hearts of the 
People. If political action had always been re- 
garded, even by the better classes of the commu- 
nity, as a matter of serious thought -^ as a thing 
of Conscience and Duty ; if the wonderful Pros- 
perity wherewith God hath blessed us, had not 
so besotted us that we have almost forgotten that 
He is the alone Creator and Preserver of Nations ; 
if our Liberty had not been used by us as " a 
cloak of maliciousness" — making us infidel, and 
insolent, and lawless ; if by the recognition, and 
faithful discharge, of our duties as Citizens, the 
reign of Demagogues — the real curse of the 
Nation — had been rendered impossible, as it 
might have been, and "the best" had been en- 



33 

trusted, in all the land, with the government 
of the country ; if the Law of God had always 
been recognized as i3ossessing a binding author- 
ity upon our political conduct ; — if these things 
had been so, the existence of the perils that 
now threaten us would have been simply im- 
possible. No need would then have been felt 
for an}^ one to rise up, and plead the cause of the 
Union ; for no traitorous hand would have dared, 
if indeed such could even have been found, to 
lift itself, in rebellion, against it. The very first 
whisper of such a purpose, would have drawn 
forth a hurricane of indignant execration, from 
every quarter, which would have overwhelmed 
the catiff who had dared to breathe it. And woe 
be to him — come he from North, or South, or 
East, or West — who even now has voluntarily 
contributed, directly or indirectly, — by word, or 
pen, or deed, — to the dismemberment and conse- 
quent degradation of his country. His children's 
children shall rise up and call him. Accursed. 

And now what remains to be done. Let us 
ponder these lessons which God is teaching us, 
and seek to derive from them wisdom for the 
Future. We are unwilling to believe that there 

5 



34 

is no Future for this Peojjle. We cannot bring 
ourselves to believe that this great Government — 
to which so many tear-filled eyes have been 
turned, with fond hope, from the down-trodden 
milUons of the Earth ; the thought of which has 
been as a Pillar of Fire shining through the gloom 
of many a prison ; within which are enshrined so 
many glorious Memories, around which cluster so 
many Hopes ; — that this Government is even now 
at an end, and that already the finger of Judg- 
ment hath written upon its walls — "Ichabod, 
the glory is departed." There may indeed be 
division for a time ; but let us hope, — certainly 
let us pray, that God is only leading this People 
through these present trials, in order, by such 
salutary though painful discipline, to fit them for 
a yet larger usefulness, and a higher glory. But 
let us remember that this cannot be unless we 
so repent us of our sins and turn to ffim, that He 
may indeed be our God, and we His People. He 
only can bless, and preserve us. His Will is the 
only safe Policy of Nations. His glory is the 
only true Ambition. And as it is only the Law 
of Gravitation that holds together, in glittering 
bands, those starry clusters that pour out their 



35 

splendors upon the evening sky, so it is only His 
Law, contained in that Sacred Volume, that can 
bind together, in happy and peaceful union, this 
Constellation of States, which we yet hope is to 
continue, after the clouds which now obscure it 
are blown aside, to be a Joy and a Glory in the 
Earth. 



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